Ex-Nestle Purina Petcare executive sentenced

A former group account director for Nestle Purina Petcare and its subsidiary, Check Mark Communications, has been sentenced to five years of probation, including six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service, for charging $229,000 to the company’s American Express credit card.

Thomas Faulkner paid back that amount at Friday’s sentencing, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Some of the expenses legitimately incurred by Faulkner through his job included entertainment, meals and travel and promotional items such as Sirius radios, iPods and gift cards, prosecutors said.

But Faulkner also created false invoices for trips to Disney World in Orlando, Fla., and college football games, according to prosecutors.

Faulkner, 41, of O’Fallon, Ill., pleaded guilty last October to one felony count of mail fraud.